Erie County,
Pennsylvania

History of
Erie County, Pennsylvania 1884

by Samuel P. Bates,

Chapter
XVII - County Buildings

The first court in
the county was held in the "big room" of Buehler's Hotel, at the
corner of French and Third streets, Erie, which was then and for many
years afterward the central portion of the town. From there the place of
holding the court was changed to the log jail on Second street, and the
quarters in that modest structure being found too small, another removal
was made to apartments in Conrad Brown's building, on the opposite corner
of Third and French streets from Buehler's. These premises were occupied
until the completion of the first court house in 1808. The latter was a
small brick building that stood in the West Park, at Erie, a little north
of the soldiers' and sailors' monument. The county was too poor to afford
the total expense, and the State generously granted $2,000 toward the
erection of the building. On Sunday morning, March 23, 1823, between the
hours of 12 and 3 o'clock, this court house was destroyed by fire, with
all the books, papers and records, inflicting a loss to the county which
cannot be measured in dollars and cents, and the effects of which were
felt for fully a generation after the event. The fire was caused by taking
ashes out of a stove on Saturday, throwing them into a nail keg and
neglecting to move them out of doors. When the flames were discovered,
they had advanced too far to permit the saving of any of the contents of
the building. The ensuing May term of court was held in the Erie Academy,
and that edifice was rented for county purposes and occupied by the
various county officials for two years.

On the 2d of April, 1823, P. S. V. Hamot, Rufus S. Reed, Thomas Laird,
Robert Brown, James J. Sterrett, John Morris and Thomas H. Sill entered
into an agreement to advance $2,000 for one year, without interest, to the
county for the purpose of rebuilding the court house. This proposition was
accepted by the Commissioners, who advertised at once for proposals. The
job of filling the cellar of the old building, and packing it with clay,
was let to Abiather Crane on the 21st of April ensuing. On the 24th of
May, a contract for rebuilding the walls on the old foundation was let to
Thomas Mehaffey and Joseph Henderson for $1,950. The carpenter work and
furnishing was awarded on the 14th of January, 1824, to William Benson and
William Himrod, of Waterford, for $2,000. September 7, 1824, the
Commissioners contracted with Thomas Mehaffey to lath and plaster the
building, and on the same day with John Dunlap to finish the carpenter
work, the consideration being $434 in the first instance, and $100 in the
second.

The new building was completed and occupied in the spring of 1825. It
stood nearly on the site of its predecessor, and was a two-story brick
structure, surmounted by a wooden cupola. The entrance fronted the south,
and opened into a vestibule, from which three other doors gave access
respectively to the court room proper and to the galleries. The interior
consisted of one room, with galleries around three sides. For nearly
thirty years, this was the principal hall of the town, being used
miscellaneously for religious worship, political meetings, entertainments,
and in fact for almost every public purpose. The building was long the
most elegant court house in Northwestern Pennsylvania, and its erection
was a heavy burden upon the county. The County Commissioners hesitated for
some time about levying a tax to meet the expenditure, the credit of the
county fell to a low figure, and no improvement took place until a member
of the board was elected who was not afraid to do his duty. In the cupola
of the court house hung a bell which had quite an interesting history. It
belonged originally to the British ship Detroit, captured by Perry in the
battle of Lake Erie. From that vessel, it was transferred to the United
States brig Niagara, one of the lake fleet, where it was in use till 1823,
when it was placed in the navy yard at Erie. On the abandonment of the
navy yard in 1825, when most of the material was sold at auction, the old
bell was bought by R. S. Reed, who disposed of it to the County
Commissioners, by whom it was hung in the cupola of the court house. In
1854, after the arrival of the bell for the present court house, the old
bell was stolen, but was recovered in the course of a few months, and
finally purchased by the city of Erie for the sum of $105.

A little to the west of the court house was a two-story building
containing the county offices.

The corner-stone of the third and present court house was laid on Tuesday,
August 17, 1852, at 2 P. M., an address being delivered on the occasion by
Hon. John Galbraith, President Judge. The building required nearly three
years to complete, the first court held therein being on the 7th of May,
1855. It was modeled upon the court house at Carlisle, Penn., after plans
by Thomas H. Walter, an architect of considerable celebrity. The
Commissioners undertook to do the work without contract, and to that end
employed John Hill to superintend the carpenter work and William Hoskinson
the mason work, both at $3 per day. Daniel Young, of Erie, furnished the
brick; William Judson & Co., of Waterford, the timber and lumber; Levi
Howard, of Franklin Township, the stone; and Cadwell & Bennett, of
Erie, did the roofing. On May 1, 1854, after about $30,000 had been
expended, a contract was made with Hoskinson & Hill to finish the
building, put up the fence, grade the grounds, and do all work pertaining
to the completion of the edifice, for $61,000, deducting what had already
been expended. Afterward, there was an allowance of $2,392 to these
parties for extras, making the cost of the building when accepted by the
Commissioners over $63,000. Subsequent repairs, additions and improvements
have increased this sum to about $100,000.

The court house is 61 feet by 132 in size, and contains all the county
offices, each in a separate fire-proof room. The first story, apart from
the entrance hall, is equally divided by a vestibule running the full
length, which is crossed by another in the center. At each end of the two
vestibules is a door, making four in all, opening into the building. On
the right hand, entering from the front, are the Prothonotary's and
Recorder's offices, and on the left, those of the Sheriff, Treasurer,
County Commissioners and Clerk of the Courts. The court room, a large
apartment capable of holding nearly a thousand persons, with high, plainly
frescoed walls and ceilings, is in the second story, being reached by two
flights of stairs beginning in the hall on the first floor and terminating
in another on the upper. The part of the room assigned to the bench and
bar, which is at the north end, opposite the entrance, is railed off from
the balance and neatly carpeted. The seats for spectators rise gradually
from the bar to the door, and are more comfortable and convenient than
usual in buildings of this sort.

Portraits of some of the former Judges and older members of the bar adorn
the walls. The room is an excellent one for the purpose, aside from a
defect in its acoustic properties, to remedy which several attempts have
been made without avail. In the rear of the court room are the grand jury
room -- which is also the receptacle of the law library -- two other jury
rooms, a ladies' room, wash room, etc. A narrow stairway back of the court
room is used by the officers and attorneys and for bringing in prisoners.
The building is heated by steam, lighted with gas, and supplied with water
by the city water system. Taken altogether, with several serious defects,
it is one of the handsomest and most convenient court houses in the State,
a credit to the county and an ornament to the city of Erie.

A tasty brick building for the janitor was erected during the year 1880,
between the court house and jail, at a cost of about $800. The lot on
which the court house stands was purchased for the County Commissioners in
1804 by Judge John Vincent, who was present at the dedication of the
building in 1852. It was upon this lot within the old jail ground that
Henry Francisco, the only person ever executed in the county, was hung by
Sheriff Andrew Scott, in 1838.

The County Jail
The first jail was a small log building, erected soon after the
organization of the county, on the southwest corner of Holland and Second
streets. It was in this modest structure that court was once held, as
before stated. A second jail, of brick, was put up on the site of the
present court house in 1830. The third and existing jail was erected in
1850, and remodeled in 1869 at an expense of $39,671, under the
superintendence of R. C. Chapman. It consists of a Sheriff's residence and
jail combined, both three stories high, fronting on Fifth street, in the
rear of the court house. In a wing on the west side in the office of the
warden, through which all persons have to pass on entering or leaving the
jail. A high stone wall completely incloses the jail proper, leaving a
small yard, where the prisoners are allowed to exercise. The interior of
the jail is divided into six rows of cells, two rows to each story, and
each cell is closed with a heavily grated door. In front of the cells, on
the first and second floors, at a distance of about three feet from the
line of doors, runs an iron grating, which answers the double purpose of
keeping the prisoners more secure and giving them a narrow pathway in
which to stretch their limbs. The cells on the third story do not have
this extra grating, and are used for women and the milder class of
criminals. Every cell is alike in its contents, being provided with two
iron frames attached to the walls for bedsteads, a mattress and blankets,
a water closet, and a supply of city water. The floors and stairways are
of iron, the walls are of stone, and no wood is seen in the building aside
from the tables and seats. On the third floor of the Sheriff's house is
the hospital, in which is a bath tub and other conveniences for the sick.

The regular bill of fare for the prisoners is as follows: Breakfast -- a
loaf of bread and cup of coffee; dinner -- meat, potatoes, and sometimes
other vegetables; supper -- a cup of tea and the balance of the bread left
from breakfast and dinner. The meals are handed in to the prisoners
through a narrow opening in the wall between the jail and the Sheriff's
kitchen. To the above is frequently added some palatable dish, through the
kindness of the Sheriff's family, and on holidays the prisoners are
usually treated to roast turkey. The average of inmates is about twenty.
This number is generally doubled tow or three weeks before the Court of
Quarter Sessions, and correspondingly reduced after they adjourn.
Prisoners of the worst class are sentenced to the Western Penitentiary at
Allegheny City; young men who are convicted of the first offense, to the
Allegheny County Work House; and boys and girls to the State Reform School
at Morganza, Washington County.

The first jailer was Robert Irvin, who was succeeded by John Gray, James
Gray, William Judd, Robert Kincaid and Cornelius Foy. John Gray held the
position, off and on, for many years. The first Sheriff who acted in the
capacity of jailer was Albert Thayer, who was elected in 1825. For some
years past the Sheriff's duties have been too onerous to allow of his
taking immediate charge of the jail, and the institution has been in care
of a warden, acting under and responsible to that officer. No employment
is given to the prisoners, and they spend the day time in reading,
chatting, mending their clothing and concocting mischief.

The Almshouse
In the year 1832, while John H. Walker was a member of the Assembly, he
procured an act ceding the third section of two thousand acres of State
land in Mill Creek Township, west of Erie, to the borough, the proceeds to
be used in constructing a canal basin in the harbor. It was stipulated in
the act that one hundred acres should be reserved to Erie County on which
to erect an almshouse, the land to be selected by three commissioners
appointed by the County Commissioners. The latter officers, on May 7,
1833, named William Miles, George Moore and David mcNair, who chose the
piece of ground on the Ridge road, three miles west of Erie, which has
ever since been known as the "poor house farm." The original
tract was increased to about one hundred and thirteen acres including the
allowance by the purchase of a small piece from Mr. Warfel in 1878.

Soon after the selection of the farm, an agitation began for the erection
of a county almshouse on the property. A proposition to that effect was
submitted to the people in 1839, and, after a hard fight, was voted down
by a majority of 154. The friends of the measure claimed that the question
had not been fairly treated, and it was again brought before the people at
the spring election of 1840, when it was carried by the close vote of
1,599 in favor to 1,594 in opposition. Three Directors of the Poor were
elected the same year. Contracts were soon after let for the construction
of a building, and by the fall of 1841 it was ready for the reception of
the paupers. Before that, each borough and township took care of its own
poor, under the supervision of two overseers elected by their citizens.
The original building was of brick, and for the time, was one of
considerable magnitude.

The present large and imposing edifice was commenced in 1870 and
substantially completed in 1871, though the finishing and furnishing
continued until 1873. Its cost, as shown by the requisitions upon the
County Commissioners from 1869 to 1873, was $118,000. A further sum of
$10,000 was voted in 1874, of which perhaps one half was applied to the
improvement of the building and grounds. About $3,000 of the balance are
understood to have been used in building the barn, and nearly $2,000 in
putting down gas wells upon the farm. The building for insane male persons
was added in 1875, at a cost of about $2,000.

The almshouse stands on a rise of ground between the Ridge road and Lake
Shore Railroad, facing the former, with which it communicates by a wide
avenue lined on both sides with young trees. The main building is of
brick, four stories high, 188 feet long by 44 to 46 wide, with a cupola in
the center and another at each end. Extending from the center on the north
side is a three-story brick wing, 86x30feet, and a short distance to the
west is the small two-story brick building above referred to, for the care
and safe-keeping of insane males. On the first floor of the main building
are the Steward's office and family apartments, the men's sitting room,
store room, bath room, etc. The three other floors are divided into
sleeping rooms, except that a large space at the west end of the second
story is used as the female hospital. The north wing contains the paupers'
dining room and kitchen on the first, the women's insane department on the
second, and the men's hospital on the third floor. The capacity of the
building is for about four hundred inmates. All the cooking for the
paupers is done by steam. The heating is effected mainly be steam
generators, in part by natural gas from wells on the farm, which also
supply the light. The water is pumped from a spring to a tank on the
fourth story, from which it is distributed over the entire building.
Attached to the building is a medical depository and a small library, the
latter the contribution of Hon. Henry Souther.

The food supplied to the inmates is clean and abundant, though plain.
Breakfast is made up of beef soup, meat, potatoes, bread and tea or
coffee, as the parties choose. For dinner, they are furnished coffee with
sugar and milk, one kind of meat, potatoes or beans, wheat bread, and
frequently soup, turnips, beets and other vegetables. To this bill of fare
is added on Sundays ginger cake and some kind of pie. Supper usually
consists of bread, coffee and cold meat, with occasionally a bowl of rice.
Each pauper is given a pint of coffee and helps him or herself to the
other articles on the table unless incapable by weakness or deformity. The
hours for meals are: Breakfast at 7:15, dinner at 12:30, and supper at
5:30 or 6. Every inmate is obliged to be in bed by 9 o'clock P. M., and to
rise by half past six in the morning. Those who are over thirty-five years
of age are allowed a certain quantity of tobacco each week. Few of the
paupers are able to work and those who are have to make themselves useful,
the men by helping in the garden or on the farm, and the women by sewing
or doing household service.

The sleeping apartments are plain, but comfortable. Each inmate is
provided with a cheap bedstead, straw tick, two sheets, either a feather
or straw pillow, and in winter with two comforters. They generally sleep a
dozen or two in one large room. Great care is taken to keep the bedding
clean, in order to prevent the spread of disease.

The poor house farm is one of the best in the county, and has generally
been kept under fine cultivation. A few rods north of the buildings is a
large spring, which will furnish an ample supply of water for all the
needs of the institution to the end of time. The barn is of the modern
style, with basement stable. A little to the east, inclosed by a neat
fence, is the new pauper burial ground, which already contains the bodies
of about 100 unfortunates. Each grave is marked by a stone and a number
corresponding with the one in the death book.

The charity system of the county is in charge of three Directors of the
Poor, one of whom is elected annually. They employ a Steward of the
almshouse, a Secretary and Treasurer, an Attorney, a Physician for the
almshouse (who also attends to the Erie poor), and one physician each at
Corry, North East, Union, Waterford, Albion, Harbor Creek, Edinboro, Mill
Village, Girard, Wattsburg, Middleboro, Springfield and Fairview. The
subordinate employees at the almshouse are one engineer, two farmers, one
keeper and one nurse for the insane men, one keeper of the hospital, one
janitor at the office, two keepers for the insane women, and four female
servants. Only those who are thought to be incurably insane are kept at
the institution. Those for whom there is still hope are sent to the State
hospital at Warren.

During the quarter ending on the 31st of December, 1880, the Directors
gave outdoor relief to 214 families, located as follows: Erie, 157; Corry,
20; Union,10; North East, 3; Wattsburg, 5; Edinboro, 1; Lockport, 2;
Girard, 5; Conneaut, 4; Elk Creek, 4; Le Boeuf, 1; Washington, 1; and
Waterford, 1. From the 1st of January to April 1, 1881, the number of
tramps kept over night was 149. They were given supper, lodging and
breakfast, and then obliged to "move on." Their lodging room is
in the basement. The Directors of the Poor furnish the coal for the tramp
rooms in the police stations at Erie and Corry, as well as the crackers
and cheese which are given the tramps to eat.

The keeper of the City Hospital at Erie is paid by the Directors of the
Poor, who also furnish the coal for the building. The regular pay of the
keeper is $22.50 a month. In case he has a small-pox patient this is
increased to $3 a day.

By way of showing how pauperism has increased since the war for the Union,
some figures for 1860 and 1880 are taken from the official reports:

1860 -- Population of Erie County, 49,432. Inmates of the almshouse at the
beginning of the year, 107. Total expense for the support of the poor of
the entire county, including some old debts on building, $7,629.

1880 -- Population, 74,573. Paupers in the almshouse, 221. Total expense
for the whole county, $28,659. Increase of indoor paupers, double; of
expense, nearly four times.
An Extraordinary Case
The following statement from the Erie Dispatch of October 20, 1882,
deserves a place in this connection:

"Yesterday there died at the almshouse one of the most notable cases
on record, a case which has caused a vast amount of discussion among the
different physicians under whose observation it has fallen from time to
time. The deceased's name is Clara McArthur, who was born in Tionesta,
Venango County, fifty-six years ago. When a girl, she was very bright and
active until twelve years of age, when she lifted her sick mother from the
bed, then immediately picked up a large kettle of hot water which she
placed by the bedside.While in the act of raising the latter weight some
chord, in her own words, appeared to give way, and in consequence of the
strain, which affected the heart, she was unable to take a dozen steps or
sit up more than a few minutes at a time until her twenty-seventh year.
During these fifteen years the heart almost ceased to throb, and any
effort to walk or take a sitting posture brought on an attack of fainting.

"While in her twenty-eighth year, she recovered sufficiently to be
taken to church, and while sitting in the pew met a friend she had not
seen for many years, who carried a child in her arms. Miss McArthur,
forgetting her condition of weakness, lifted the child into her own lap
and fell to the floor unconscious, the exertion having proved too much for
her strength. Since that unfortunate moment, the poor woman was unable to
sit up longer than an hour at a time for more than six years, after which
time, the malady growing worse, this change of position had to be
discontinued. Lying helpless from that time on she was admitted to the
almshouse sixteen years ago, and has not occupied any position other than
reclining on the back to the hour of her death. The pulse could scarcely
be detected by the most delicate touch, and in consequence of the heart's
feeble action she was so keenly sensitive to the slightest breath of
chilliness that artificial means for keeping any degree of warmth in the
body was continually employed. For months at a time she was unable to
speak. Dr. Lovett, the county physician, believed she would have died in a
very short time if compelled to assume a sitting or standing attitude.
"Miss McArthur was very intelligent and passed the hours in perusing
religious tracts, periodicals and the Bible. A Christian more devout never
lived, and an unwavering trust in the Creator enabled her to bear her
affliction with resigned patience, an expression of cheerfulness never
being absent from her face. Amiable in disposition, she never had a
complaint to make, and was a favorite with every inmate of the building,
while those to whom she was intrusted took pleasure in administering to
the wants of the helpless woman."

Requisitions
of the Directors of the Poor, For the Support
of the Poor, Exclusive of Building Fund, etc.

Year

Year

1845

$ 5,000

1870

$ 20,000

1850

1,500

1873

38,000

1855

4,500

1875

45,000

1860

8,000

1878

35,000

1863

8,500

1880

20,000

1868

11,000

1883

35,000

1867

30,000

The
following are extracts from the report of the Board of Public
Charities of Pennsylvania, of January 1, 1883:

Number
of inmates from county at the end of the year
(boys, 16, girls, 4)

20

Work House
The number from Erie County in the Allegheny County Work House,
for the last quarter of 1880, was thirteen. This is not a State
institution, and the prisoners from Erie are kept under a special
contract between the Commissioners of the two counties.

Miscellaneous

Indigent
insante from Erie County at Dixmont, Sept. 30, 1882

2

Indigent
insane in the State Hospital at Warren (males, 39, females, 30)

69

Inmates
of the Training School for Feeble Minded Children from Erie County
(boys, 3, girls, 2)

5

Statistics
of Expenses for the Support of the Poor
of Erie County for the Year Ending September 30, 1881